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It has so far cost taxpayers $55 million but the Seal Rocks Sea
Life Centre at Phillip Island is nothing more than a glorified
kiosk where you can get a cup of tea and go to the toilet.

According to the centre's former managing director, Ken
Armstrong, the imposing glass and steel structure on the Bass Coast
could have opened two years ago but the State Government has
allowed it to fall into disrepair.

He said the building was finished in February 2003, when
insurers paid for the repair of storm damage caused in 2002.
Scaffolding at the site was "a ruse" because there was no work
being done, a point the Government has confirmed.

"The way they have allowed it to deteriorate I think if
the television cameras went through there I don't think this
Government would be re-elected, that's how bad that building is,"
Mr Armstrong said.

Opposition tourism spokesman Martin Dixon said the centre had
cost the Government more than $55 million and there was little to
show for it other "than a cup of tea and some rusty
scaffolding".

But Geoff Fraser, a spokesman for Environment Minister John
Thwaites, said engineering safety assessments were being carried
out on the centre before restoration work could begin.

"Certain faults (were) highlighted when the roof blew off at one
stage  it all has to be secured," he said.

Mr Fraser said renovations had been delayed because the
Government had to work out "the best way forward  it is a
very contentious building. You have some people vehemently saying
it should be demolished, other people saying it should be
upgraded.

"What we are saying is that we are scaling it down a bit but
maintaining it as an ongoing tourist asset for the region."

A November 2003 auditor-general's report revealed that the cost
of settling the legal dispute between the centre's former owner and
the State Government had cost the Government $55.9 million.

In May, the Government committed another $7.1 million to the
restoration of the centre, yet three months later no work has
started and there is little more than a kiosk on the site.

Mr Dixon questioned why the Government had not started
renovating the building, saying: "This is not Spencer Street
Station  this is one building."

Mr Armstrong said former Labor leader John Brumby had supported
the Seal Rocks development but when Steve Bracks became premier he
was influenced by local independent MP Susan Davies, who held the
balance of power and did not support further development of the
site.

He accused the Government of reneging on an agreement to take
over the centre as a "going concern" and of allowing it to
deteriorate.

"On August 14, 2002, the State Government entered into a written
agreement with me that I would hand it over to them as a going
concern with all the staff in place and then at 2 o'clock that day
they said, 'Fire all the staff, we are not interested in it,"' Mr
Armstrong said.

He estimated that the fully operational attraction would have
brought $20 million into Victoria's economy each year.

State Liberal MP for Bass Ken Smith said the Government had
wasted millions of dollars on the site with nothing to show for
it.

"At the moment, you can buy a cup of coffee and a sandwich
 but you have to eat it outside," he said.

Mr Smith said the Seal Rocks centre "stands as a monument to the
stupidity of the Bracks Labor Government  it was ridiculous
what they did".